Témoin sous silence

Do yourself a favor and see this series before the American remake. I'm amazed how the majority of American viewers do not realize that every time a Scandinavian TV series or movie is successful, a network or studio buys its rights and soon we have the American remake--which is ALWAYS inferior. The Bridge, The Killing, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, among several others, have been remakes of far superior original versions. The rights for Eyewitness, this excellent Norwegian thriller, were sold to the USA Network and the remake was filmed in Canada for the USA Network. If you can see the original (it is available at DailyMotion), do it before seeing the remake.

While not as long (only 10 one-hour episodes) and labyrinthine as The Killing or The Bridge, this is a relatively complex, character-driven, realistic, well-paced edge of the seat thriller. Two rural teenage boys hide the fact they have witnessed the murder of several bikers to avoid revealing they were having a secret gay encounter. Their secrecy will allow the killer to continue to operate freely while the bikers and the Balkan mafia will go to war. The plot is completely believable while the situations, locations (real biker clubs, etc.), and character development create a naturalistic feeling that prevails in every scene.

This series reaffirms the fact that Norway now shares with Denmark and Sweden the world crown of crime fiction. Eyewitness is an absolute must for lovers of Scandinavian noir and police thrillers.

Now here's a fine crime series from Scandinavia : well-acted, well-plotted, twisty and full of surprises. The series is also moving, especially where it explores the difficulties, insecurities and tensions related to adolescence. It's the cruelest period in human life, when the difference between fitting in and not fitting in can mean the difference between walking home in peace and quiet and being thrown in a ditch. Try being gay under such circumstances - it's pretty much like having "Please kick me" tattooed on your forehead.

I also enjoyed the beautifully shot locations and exteriors.

I've just noticed that "Les innocents", the French adaptation, is on the telly. Would it hurt the eyes of a viewer from Bordeaux to watch a hillside in Norway ? Even if I get to be a hundred, I'll never understand why television makers look at a foreign series, say "Wow, this stuff is pretty good" and then rush away in order to make their own version. Generally speaking it's an exercice in redundancy.

The endless circling around the killer who the audience knows from the outset and sees in the first ep...with everyone feeding him info like a baby bird in a nest...just becomes tiresome. Not well written im afraid, messy contrived and unconvincing with an especially irritating simpering female cop (the ditzy blonde) who seems to have the danger caution radar of a gnat. Henning i love you 😂

So many aspects of this drama defy plausibility., not least of all the final episode.

There are too many sub-plots which makes it all too long and difficult to follow.

The boorish same-sex relationship, which seems to be compulsory these days, had no bearing whatsoever on the main storyline. It just got in the way, and they kept returning to it. I found it uncomfortable that one party was emotionally blockmaking the other into a relationship that he had no inclination for.

The sub-plots involving bikers, Balkans and gang warfare just lost me. I had no idea what the message was at the end that the jailed villain received.

The perpetrator was too narcissistic to take the action he did at the end, it didn't make sense.

It also appears that characters in dramas can survive where no normal people could.

I'm not at all too keen on watch TV-series, but more into film. Occasionally I find time to check out a new one, and especially I have been interested in the Nordic-noir genre which have been given quite a lot of acclaim the latter years. This Norwegian gangster-crime series follows up this trend. Made in Norway with many connections to both Sweden and Denmark.

This is really an edge-of-the-seat-thriller series, and way more than expected. I think this TV-series manages to engage me so much that I've been looking more and more forward to each episode, and really hate when it's all over after the 6th episode. Proper use of cliffhangers ensure that, but also that the persons are of interest. I find that there's many interesting persons, e.g. from different sides and branches of the police forces, as well as you really get to know some of the persons on a more personal level.

Great actors all over, even the two boys are doing a great job. Quite professionally and sincere. What Ifind very pleasing is that the series seems very realistic. Names of places, locations as well as the use of buildings are all very tidy done. Even the news are made with real well-known news presenters, and there's simply nothing which loses the credibility. I've so many times been annoyed with facts that are plainly stupid in TV-series, you know, like name of countries not existing in the real world and so on. Here it's simply impossible to arrest any fact from Norway, Sweden or Denmark. It's all very real and totally believable. The only thing which can be arrested for not being a fact, is the name of the biker Club (6'ers with the emblem 666), which isn't any real club. However, their club location is real of another existing bikers club. I find that quite impressive. A real done job!

The series is well written, and though I in the start found the opening plot hard to believe, it started off a tension which is very suitable.

Once you get hitched, you won't be able to stop watching! You can't really expect more from a TV-series. One of the best I've seen for years, and just as good as the best of the British ones.